Brown: Trip has been first class so far

Southend United manager Phil Brown praised the efforts of his players following the third day of their pre-season training camp in Spain.

Brown has been delighted with the top class facilities, training levels and weather as his side step up their preparations for the 2014-15 season.

With Great Wakering Rovers opening Blues’ pre-season schedule on Saturday, Brown says his players are more than ready for the 45 minutes they will get.

Brown said: “Everything about the trip has been absolutely first class so far. The training levels from the players have been excellent, the facilities are superb and the weather has been around 30 degrees every day.

“We can’t ask for much more from the facilities and the weather, and the players have responded with their hard work. You expect that from this group and they’ve delivered.

“We’ve had triple sessions for two of the days here, and on Tuesday there was a lot of focus on Premier League runs, which if anyone knows what they are, are very tough.

“Everyone is enjoying the trip and getting the benefits from it. We’ve got Great Wakering on Saturday, and they are now in a position where they’re ready for the 45 minutes of action.”

Blues’ players were all sat around the TV to watch the first World Cup semi-final on Tuesday, and Brown said it was important for them all to stick together.

He said: “It’s important we do things as a group, so we all sat down to watch the Brazil vs. Germany game last night. It was an unbelievable game to watch, we were all in shock.

“We’ll do the same again tonight and hopefully Argentina vs. Holland can live up to last night’s drama.”